The Scarlet Ribbon
by Infinite Grace
Summary: AU - Maya Matlin is a shy, quiet freshman at the University of Toronto who just wants to find love. Now, she may have gotten her chance when she meets the handsome and enigmatic Zig Novak. Except for one slight problem: he already has a girlfriend.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! Welcome to my multi – chap Zaya story, The Scarlet Ribbon! And yes, a scarlet ribbon will be a huge symbol thing in the story. Thank you immensely for all of the reviews on my last two one – shots, they have meant so much to me! They really make me smile. Please review if you like this and please enjoy! I will post Chapter 2 up by Wednesday, I think.**

**I do not own Degrassi. **

The Scarlet Ribbon  
Chapter 1

Love was in the air. It was Valentine's Day at The University of Toronto, and couples were holding hands and sharing kisses in the old library in the northern quad. Love was in the air, sparks were flying, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

Everyone except for Maya Matlin.

"Mom, I'm glad for Katie and Jake, I really am. I just need to get to practice... yes, for orchestra. Yes Mom, I know one does not get proposed to everyday, but I really do have to go. I've been given the solo in one of our pieces - which is a huge honor, considering that freshman never get solos... the concert is in two weeks... yes, at the hall. Say congratulations for me. Okay, bye."

Maya sighed as she hung up the phone. She hadn't been entirely truthful to her mother, as she did not have practice that day. She just really didn't feel like spending two hours on the phone listening to Mrs. Matlin drone about her older sister, Katie, who was now engaged to her long-time boyfriend Jake, which made Katie Matlin even more perfect in their mother's eyes than usual. And Jake and Katie, of course were reveling in the wake of their new-found joy. And it wasn't that Maya wasn't happy for them, because she was. It was more that her mother's favorite child was always Katie - and today, particularly, was the day that Maya always felt left out on.

Maya was not an unattractive girl by any means. She had soft, shoulder-length wavy blonde hair and crystal blue eyes framed by long lashes and black wire-rimmed glasses. She had a shy, pretty smile that affected her expression often. She wasn't too short or tall, very skinny or very fat. She was average in both of those aspects, and she supposed that it was alright to be a little average.

She also supposed that it was her shy and quiet personality that stopped her from having a boyfriend. She wasn't one to wear revealing clothes or draw attention to herself. She preferred to be an onlooker, not a participant.

She could also never understand why people couldn't just like her for being herself. Did she really have to be so shallow to get other people to notice her?

Sighing at the couple kissing obnoxiously in front of her, she wheeled her cello case around the couple and started for the music quad. All around her were people in love. People who had love. Unlike her.

"Oof!"

Maya, wrapped up in her thoughts ran straight into someone hurrying in the opposite direction. Something large and leafy landed on her head as she let out a surprise yelp, tumbling onto the ground. Her cello case luckily didn't fall, but wobbled upright.

Maya spat leaves out of her mouth, about to tell off the idiot who had just smacked into her when she caught sight of him.

He was gorgeous - a typical college skater with raven hair and hazel green eyes. A green hoodie and black jeans graced his lean and muscular frame, and a frown and set jaw greeted Maya's incredulous stare.

"Watch where you're going!" He said, and his voice was smooth and low and Maya felt a little faint with the perfection.

What the heck? She thought to herself. This is a jerk. A skater jerk.

While Maya indignantly got up holding the leafy bundle, which she now saw was a bouquet of roses, the boy retrieved the errant skateboard before turning to her. "Can't you see?" he accused her, and Maya glared at him.

"I've got glasses on, haven't I?" she huffed indignantly.

The boy stood there staring at her for a moment before sighing and saying: "Look, I'm sorry - it's just that I hate Valentine's Day."

Maya stared. Could it finally be someone who understood her feelings about the accursed day?

The boy continued: "My girlfriend, Tori, thinks that Valentine's Day is the one high point in her life - other than every other holiday - because I have to be all gushy and romantic and buy her stuff. It sucks."

Maya sighed inwardly. So he wasn't single.

"That's gotta suck," she sympathized, and went on to say, "I just hate it because I have to feel especially lonely," she joked. "And I hate watching people be sappy and romantic. It must be nice to experience, but it is not fun to watch."

The boy grinned and nodded. "Trust me, you aren't missing out on much. Most of the time the guys are internally groaning because the girl is gushing about how much she loves the bouquet of flowers you were compelled to get her - then come the most dreaded words in Valentine's Day history."

Maya laughed. "What are those? 'What's next'?"

The boy put his finger on his nose, pointing to Maya. "And she gets it right on the money! Congratulations Miss..."

"Maya. Maya Matlin," Maya giggled.

The boy smiled as he put his hands down to his sides. "Zig Novak," he laughed, picking up his skateboard. Maya dutifully handed him the bouquet of roses.

"Thanks," he said, straightening out the bundle and tightening the red ribbon holding the beautiful red roses in place.

Maya grabbed the handle of her cello case and turned to Zig. "Well, I'm sure your girlfriend will swoon over those roses," she said, a small smile gracing her features. She couldn't help wishing that she had someone to give her roses. She hated feeling like this - and it wasn't that she just wanted a boyfriend to say she had one. She just wanted someone to want her - to love her. Because nobody ever really had. Not even her own family.

Zig studied her for a moment before his green eyes lit up and he stood in front of her, the bouquet. "Miss Matlin," he said, bowing slightly to her and holding out the bouquet today. Maya was stunned, but took the roses - breathing in the sweet perfume emanating from the flowers.

"Why thank you, Mr. Novak," she said, mock curtsying to him. Zig grinned and stood upright again. "I'll see you later, Maya," he said, and with a push from his foot, he was off down the sidewalk.

Maya slammed the door to her apartment, keys in hand as she rolled her case to a stop by the doorway. Holding the bouquet of roses Zig had given her an hour before, she smiled as she took out a vase, filled it with water, and set the bouquet of roses in it, untying the beautiful scarlet ribbon and putting it on her nightstand. After setting the vase on her kitchen table, she stepped back to admire the view.

The roses contrasted beautifully with the plain, beige walls of her apartment. She had been meaning to re-paint them, but she had never gotten the chance - school and orchestra had caught up with her, and in the spare time she did have, she spent reading or video - chatting with her friends from back home. But the roses added a nice touch of vibrancy – of life. Maya smiled at the sight.

And later that night, while trying to do her homework, all she could focus on were those hazel green eyes, sparkling back at her.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey all! Thank you so much for your reviews/follows/favorites! I appreciate them A LOT. They make me smile :) I apologize for the long, wait – and thanks for sticking with me! I will try to make Tori as un – bitchy as possible (pardon my French) because I don't hate her and I feel that making her evil would be a sort of cliché. Also, Zig seems to be a nice guy – so why would he date someone who isn't? That being said, Tori will not be extremely nice. Again, when a guy gives another girl flowers, it's hard to not be jealous/mean to the other girl. Also, although this IS a Zaya story, Zig won't be in love with Maya just yet. He just met her, and he's been dating Tori for a while, so… yeah.**

**Again, thank you so much for the reviews, please review some more, and I love you guys!**

**Oh, and soon I will be adding some songs into the chapter or something. Just because I listen to music while writing to give me some inspiration. If you want a playlist or something at the end of the story, let me know! K thanks. :)**

**Also, I'm doing this for NaNoWriMo, because I was originally going to write a novel, but I was like: eh, I have one going (this) so why not? Let's just ignore the fact that the first chapter was written in October. This also gives me some motivation to update more often!**

**And I will reply to reviews starting next chapter. I'm just being tired at the moment.**

**I do not own Degrassi.**

Chapter 2

That night, Maya couldn't sleep a wink.

All she could think about was Zig. Which was weird, because she was sure that she had never been this infatuated with anyone, ever. Not even in high school, not even with –

Maya shut her eyes and stopped her train of thought before she could think about him. He was the past. Gone – and good riddance.

Sighing, Maya rolled over to check the time. 2:30 AM. Damn, still three hours until she was supposed to get up and get ready for school. Maya lay back on the pillow, thinking, and inevitably her thoughts drifted back to Zig. She had never seen him on campus before – was he older? It was possible, especially since she was pretty sure they didn't have any classes together. And who was his girlfriend? She didn't know any freshman named Tori… she didn't think. She was always bad with names.

Finally Maya decided to get some answers.

Logging onto Facerange, Maya was greeted with a small, but not unwelcome surprise.

_Friend Request: Zig Novak_

Maya had a small fan girl type of moment before composing herself – and calmly accepted Zig's request. Instantly his page popped up in front of her, and she scanned it readily.

It turned out that Zig was, in fact, a freshman, and a lot of his classes were centered around the arts – or so his album of photos labeled 'Photography' seemed to suggest. He loved skateboarding – a lot of his earlier statuses consisted of 'Going skateboarding with the guys!' and goofy pictures of him and his high school friends laughing at skating parks. He'd also been dating 'Tori Santamaria' since they were freshman in high school. She was a pretty girl, with a wide smile and dark ringlets and brown eyes. Maya saw an album labeled: "Tori and I" and scrolled through, taking in pictures of Tori and Zig together on their anniversaries, and together at different dances, and eventually at prom.

Maya closed out of his profile, her heart a little heavy. It was obvious that whoever Tori was, she and Zig were completely in love. This was a weird phase, she told herself. Nothing more. Zig is a friend – barely one, since she had just met him for about 5 minutes. And Maya knew that she could never live with herself if she broke up anyone – not that she was planning on seeing Zig ever again.

Maya knew herself. She fell fast – dangerously so. So while a part of her tried to tell herself that this Zig thing was a passing schoolgirl crush, another part of her knew that Zig had fascinated her – to a point where she didn't know if she could ever forget about him.

God, I am such a stalker, she thought, before climbing back into bed and slowly, but surely, she drifted off to sleep.

**(Quick A/N: I know Maya came off as a bit of a stalker – but she's a bit fascinated with Zig right now! He pretty much made her day. This chapter is shorter than the other one – I will try and write another one tonight! :) )**


	3. Chapter 3: Author's Note

Hello dear readers!

I apologize profusely for my long absence. Please don't beat me with shovels. Or pitchforks. Or… anything, really.

School is driving me insane, and life has been overall, really hectic.

I know, I know – that isn't a good excuse. Isn't life for everyone hectic? Yes, yes it is. A part of the problem is that I'm a procrastinator, and with AP classes to contend with, I've been overwhelmed with schoolwork.

I was actually planning to sit down today and really plow through some chapters – I'd been itching to write down ideas, and I was all excited to get back to you guys – especially since all you reviewers have been amazing. Thank you for your kind words :)

Then the unspeakable happened. My friend committed suicide last night.

… To say that I'm in shock is an understatement.

I don't know why she did it – and I can't imagine what must have happened that made her think that it was the only way out. But she did. And I'm heartbroken that she thought that it was the only way to end whatever pain she must've been feeling. And I would've done anything, anything to make sure that she would still be alive today.

And I am just so utterly sad. So, so, so sad.

I'm telling you all this because I want to say something that you all have probably heard before, but that is so important.

Please, if you ever, ever feel like committing suicide is the only way out, talk to someone. A friend, a teacher, a parent, a counselor, anyone. You're not alone – and people care about you. You only live once (yes yes, YOLO) and when it's over, it's over – you don't get a redo. You don't get a rewind. Life is hard, it always will be – but what comes down always goes back up. Those great moments in life? Those are worth living for. Those are always worth living for. If we gave up every time something utterly disastrous happened, the human race would probably be extinct. No joke! I mean, look at history – some pretty crappy stuff has happened throughout history. But you know what? We just kept going. And here we are today.

And you matter. No matter what anyone says, you matter.

And the saddest part is that I didn't even get to say goodbye. She's just gone, and I can't get her back. And I don't want any of you to ever have to feel that way. If you have – I know how you feel. And I can relate, and it sucks. Have a virtual hug.

So please, again: if you ever feel like committing suicide is the only way out, please talk to someone. Heck, talk to me if you want! Just PM me or something – I check my email like all the time (in hope that my favorite FF stories are updated, or in hope that some kind soul has reviewed my story) and so I'll probably reply. You don't even have to tell me your name – you can be totally anonymous. And that's totally fine.

Remember that there will never be another you – no one can replace you. And nobody wants to.

So, dear readers, with that said, I will try and update ASAP – I'm really blocked right now – all I can feel is sadness, and pain – so I might not be writing again for another couple of days. I'm sorry :/

Thank you for reading – and have a great evening… I think the Oscars are on right now, so um, go ahead and watch those! Yeah. I'll see you all soon!

- Shaft of Light


End file.
